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Dozens of former Ormet Corp. employees picketed in front of American Electric Power headquarters
yesterday, hoping to call attention to what they see as inaction by the utility and state
regulators that led the southeastern Ohio aluminum smelter to shut down.

“All we want to do is go back to work,” said Donnie Blatt, a former Ormet employee who now works
for the United Steelworkers union.

Ormet, based in Hannibal on the Ohio River, closed its doors in October after an unsuccessful
attempt to get AEP to increase its electricity subsidy — already the highest of its kind in the
state. At full employment, the company had more than 1,000 workers.

AEP spokeswoman Melissa McHenry issued the following statement: “We are sorry to see any Ohio
business fail, and we sympathize with the Ormet employees who lost their jobs, but the reality is
that Ormet already had substantially discounted electricity rates, and the Public Utilities
Commission of Ohio determined that it was not appropriate to further subsidize those rates. It is
unfortunate, but Ormet simply could not sustainably compete in a depressed aluminum market, and
electricity rates are not the reason.”

Ormet had struggled for years because of low aluminum prices and a series of rate increases from
AEP.

In October, the PUCO approved only part of the increase in aid that Ormet had requested. A PUCO
spokesman said that any additional changes likely would require a new proposal, which has not been
filed.

Before the October vote, Ormet already was receiving the largest electricity discount of its
type in the state, with $308 million in benefits that were to have been paid between 2009 and 2018.
The money comes from other AEP customers, with a typical household paying $2 to $3 per month.

Critics of the proposal, which included business groups and consumer advocates, said it was
unfair to make all customers pay to support one business. They also raised concerns that Ormet
might not be viable in the long run.

Ormet employees have said that the subsidy is a small price to pay to maintain a key employer in
an economically depressed part of the state.